Leather Masks Workshop - a brief "how to"

I will admit when I first signed up for this workshop I had gimp masks in mind. Luckily the masks were much less explicit, despite the option to make “sci fi” inspired pieces. 


Anyway,  time to talk leather. The type of leather used to make these  masks comes from the shoulders of a cow. A note about leather in general is that you can’t buy it in metres you have to buy it in skins - and the price of cows shoulder leather is about a couple of pounds per square foot, so the price of a skin depends on the size of the cow. 

To make these masks you start by making a paper pattern ( make sure the eye holes are in the correct place - if you wear glasses like me they do make great guides ). Using a Stanley knife cut around the template into the leather.  Now boil the kettle, slap the mask in a basin and pour boiling water in and over the leather. It may bubble but just wait for the colour change as it will turn a few shades darker with the water, then take the mask out - this will burn so be careful.

Onto the fun part, surprisingly you do not need a mould you just shape the leather with your hands. This will take a while and the flamboyance of the design is all down to you so go wild. Once you’ve had enough or the mask looks as you intended it to leave it on radiator to dry.

The final step is to paint. High concentrate acrylics are the best for such raw leather, but normal acrylic and mat varnish will also work. The trick of painting masks is to exaggerate the curves and shapes of the item though light and dark colours. so darker in the crevices and lighter on the highlighted bits, like on the ridge of the nose, cheek bones and just above the eyebrows. Of course if your prefer to create a texture this also seems to work well. Further more feel free to hot fix any embellishments onto the mask or add glitter ect, it is leather and it can with stand pretty much anything!

So end result and I have gained a new skill in prop and costume which will most certainly be used for future theatre projects. And I made a mask that resembles Tree Beard that I will probably give to my mum for her Birthday!